What We Do

 

If you think you have found a fire ant colony, call the Orange County Vector Control District (OCVCD) at once, and an inspector will be out to visit the site in a couple of days at the most.  OCVCD will determine if the colony is actually red imported fire ants.  Once RIFA are confirmed, treatment with an insect growth regulator (IGR) or a metabolic inhibitor (MI) will begin.  Fire ants cannot consume solid food; they filter the solids out and digest the liquid.  Each of these materials is very effective at eliminating fire ant colonies.  IGRs work by blocking the development of immature ants.  Consequently, as the ants get older and die, they are not replaced.  Metabolic inhibitors block the utilization of food.  The fire ants can continue to eat, but they derive no benefit from what they consume.  The worker ants pass the material on to the queen.

 

A technician inserts a three-foot long pole in a mound to demonstrate the depth of the mound.	Mounds can be several feet deep. This one is at least three feet deep.

Following the first treatment, the District will contract with a private pest control company to do the next two treatments at no charge to the homeowner.  These treatments are scheduled to be 90 – 120 days apart, and the pest control company uses the same IGR.  The final treatment and evaluation will be conducted by the OCVCD.  The whole cycle can take a year or longer, but has been shown to be highly effective at reducing the fire ant threat.  In the rare instance when the cycle of treatments fails to eliminate the colony, the entire process will be repeated again.